19
Three’s a Crowd
It was a picture-perfect day in New York City’s Central Park. Tens of thousands of excited fans had gathered for the free Fourth of July concert starring several artists, including D & C: Darius and Company. Darius, Bo, Darius’s publicist, makeup artist, stylist, assistants, and finance manager all occupied a spacious trailer several yards away from the concert’s main stage.
A knock on the trailer door announced to Darius that it was showtime. Bo answered it.
“Five minutes, Dee,” the man said, before hurriedly moving on to the stage where the rest of the band were already set up. The comedian who entertained the audience between acts was in the final stages of his routine. The makeup artist gave a few final dabs to Darius’s forehead while the stylist and her assistants swarmed around him like bees, making sure that his outfit looked shabby chic, and that his bling could be seen.
After a moment, Darius brushed them away. “Let’s go, y’all.” He took a last look in the mirror, and then headed for the door.
Bo rushed ahead to open it. “You look good.”
Darius gave him a pat on the back as he moved purposefully toward the stage. Except for the original mike check, and taking a peek at the opening band two hours ago, he’d purposely not gone back outside. He wanted to experience everything in real time: the atmosphere, the weather, the stage, and the multitude of people stretching as far as the eye could see.
“Wow.” Bo rubbed the area between Darius’s shoulders, knowing that as calm as his husband seemed on the outside, his insides were churning with a mix of nervousness and excitement. “This is going to be good, baby.” He kept his voice calm and even. “You’re going to kill it, Dee. Do your thing. I’m right here.”
“New York!” the comedian intoned above an already-frenzied crowd. “Are you ready?”
An affirmative rumble was his response.
“I said, Are. You. Ready?”
Again, a massive roar as some in the audience began a rhythmic clap that was soon picked up in row after row.
“That’s right. You’re already doing it, so continue to put those hands together and welcome one of R and B’s brightest stars, a triple threat, an award-winning maestro . . . D . . . and . . . C!”
The Company, an award-winning band that had been with Darius since his Ministry of Music days at KCCC, broke out with the introductory chords of “Power,” the first hit song off his latest CD, Me, Myself, andYou. When the CD dropped at the beginning of the year, “Power” spent an unprecedented fourteen weeks on Billboard’s R & B Top Ten. The second release, “Subtle Sexy,” came in at number one, while “Power” still occupied the number eight spot, and the song that would serve as the show’s finale was officially dropping next week. Darius strolled confidently and with singular focus to the mike. He’d timed the walk to reach it at the exact moment the hook kicked in.
“Power! That thing in you, that thing in me, that makes us all what we should be.
Power! Gonna make it, cannot shake it, the destiny that through the Spirit just awaits me.
To that place in our soul, the ultimate goal, where blessings unfold and . . .
Victories untold are more than I can hold. It’s ... Power! Power! Power! Power!”
There was something otherworldly about having more than a hundred thousand people, fists in the air, shouting the title of your hit song. Darius worked every inch of the sixty-foot-long stage, making sure that he acknowledged the fans who were behind him. Every band member showcased the mastery of their instrument: bass and lead guitars, horn section, keyboard, and percussion. It seemed as though nature itself joined in; the rustling trees swayed to the beat and the birds dipped in and out of the branches on cue. Various smells wafted up from the crowd, vying for attention. Weed, sweat, perfume, and scents from the surrounding food courts mingled in the air. Every color of the rainbow was represented, both in the clothes being worn and in the races that gathered. Darius was in his element, looking deceptively cool dressed in low riding jeans, an open black shirt, platinum jewelry, and confidence. It was six feet of sweaty sweet chocolate: strutting, gyrating, crooning, encouraging the masses to believe in life and themselves. Barely two minutes into the concert and Darius had the crowd in the palm of his hand ... and what a large, talented palm it was.
As Darius did his thing on the stage, Bo was handling a different type of power all together: the type of power that came with managing one of the country’s top R & B artists. While Darius whipped the crowd into a musical frenzy, Bo conferred with Darius’s publicist before heading toward the area of the venue where product was being sold. From a discreet location, he observed the salespersons who were handling the sales of D & C merchandise: CDs, DVDs, T-shirts, key chains, flash drives, autographed pics, hats, jewelry, and other collectibles that fans would enjoy. Satisfied with the customer lines and what seemed to be lots of brisk business, he returned backstage and eventually stood in the wings as Darius came to the close of his forty-five-minute performance. There, as the audience matched the R & B star word for word on “Possible,” his first break-out hit, Bo saw something. Or more importantly, he saw someone. In the front row. Front and center to be exact. Bo let out a string of expletives. I have got to find a way to get that dog to stop sniffing around my bone!
Later, as Paz Demopoulos not only joined them backstage but also for a dinner at an A-list director’s house, Bo sat . . . and stewed. The only thing that kept him from going smooth off were memories of how Darius had come running back to him after one of Stacy’s rants. Every time that woman had given Darius the blues about choosing Bo over her and her son, she deepened the bond between the two men. So Bo smiled and schmoozed and held conversations with others as if he was really interested in what they had to say. Truth is, if someone had asked him later what he’d talked about while Paz was cozying up next to his husband, Bo wouldn’t have been able to say. But there was one thing he did know.... At the end of the night, when all the parties had wound down and the paparazzi were gone, it would be him lying in the bed next to superstar Darius Crenshaw. Tomorrow, he decided, he’d think long and hard about a way to deal with the person who dared to try and threaten his marital future. Tonight, he’d concentrate on something else long and hard. Bo had what Paz wanted, plain and simple. He didn’t plan on that fact changing any time soon.